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I know that our efforts all come to nothing. Analyze life, tear its trappings off, lay it bare with thought, with logic, with philosophy, and its emptiness is revealed as a bottomless pit; its nothingness frankly confesses to nothingness, and Despair comes to perch in the soulI know the end of us all is nothing, I know that at the end of Time, the reward of our toil will be nothing — and again nothing. I know that all our handiwork and all our ideas will be destroyed. I know that not even ash will be left from the fires that consume us. I know that our ideals, even those we achieve, will vanish in the eternal darkness of oblivion and final non-being. There is no hope, none, in my heart. I know, No promise, none, can I make to myself and to others. No recompense can I expect for my labors. No fruit will be born of my thoughts. I know the time — eternal seducer of all men, eternal cause of all effects — offers me nothing but the blank prospect of annihilation. So, my dignity is broken and weak, in recognition of my impending defeat.The man who is alone, who stands on his own feet, who is stripped bare, who asks for nothing and wants nothing, who has reached the apex of disinterested­ness not through blind renunciation but through ex­cess of clear vision, turns to the world which stretches out before him as a burned prairie, as a devastated city — a world in which no churches, asylums, refuges, ideals, are left — and says: «Though you promise me nothing I am still with you, I am still an atom of your energies, my work is part of your work; I am your companion and your mirror as you march on your merciless way. But I owe nothing to any one. I would be responsible to freedom alone.

Hello all. I have long been confused on theology in Taoism especially in regards to the I Ching. The two translations of the Yi I use are Brian Browne Walker and Wilhelm and both refer to "God" or "the Deity" as far as theology goes. I know certain schools of Taoism are polytheistic from what I gather. What I would like to know as I pray to the Deity as referred to in the I Ching am I praying to a biblical God or an abstract universal Deity? I ask this because my path has Buddhist roots and I want to know if anyone can guide me if praying to Guan Yin and other bodhisattvas is compatible with praying to a potentially biblical God. I also would like to know if the bodhisattva path and the path of the daoist immortal are one and the same or are two distinct paths. Does an immortal have great compassion? Do bodhisattvas reside in the heavenly realms while they simultaneously incarnate on earth? I have a lot of questions so hopefully someone could help guide me. -Elliot

In another thread, I noticed one commentator was waxing eloquent about the role of Reasoning. So to that I posed the question - What is it that gives us the ability to reason? Let me elaborate further with a series of questions. We interact with our world using the sensory apparatuses and our mind (via thought). Reasoning is integral part of the thinking/function of the mind. That being said, what gives us the ability to sense? What gives us the ability to think?

I waiver over this one. Whether to be modern and believe in what I see, science tells me and disregard other phenomena as superstition. But I run into wise people who claim we live in a 'thick' dimension with other spaces and beings living intimately near by. Beings interpreted as spirits, angels, demons even aliens. Then there's the world view of an intimate God watching us and controlling everything, and another positing a less personal but spiritual God which encompasses all of time space and our very being, one we 'feel' in states of deep peace and touch its infinite Oneness. I guess I believe in a less personal spiritual big big big God. Though if I have to guess, it may not be the strongest belief. And that's why I meditate. The satori experience, to get a glimpse of God, beyond a belief structure. What do you think the basic Reality we live in?